Bihar Election 2020: Mithilanchal saves the day for NDA

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) managed to return to power in Bihar on the back of its performance in the Mithilanchal and Seemanchal regions even as it got wiped out in the Shahabad region with 71 seats. Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won five seats in Seemanchal and spoiled Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Grand Alliance (GA)’s chances. Mithilanchal tilted the scales in the NDA’s favour.

In Mithilanchal’s Darbhanga, the NDA bagged nine out of the 10 seats and eight in the region’s Madhubani. In Samastipur, also in Mithilanchal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Virendra Kumar, a first-time contestant, created a record by winning with the highest margin of over 35,000 votes in Rosera. The BJP also won Mohiuddinagar in Samastipur in the same region.

BJP’s ally, Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), won three seats in Samastipur. The RJD won three seats and its ally Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation two.

The NDA’s performance in the three districts was better than the 2010 polls when it won 22 out of the 30 seats. “Having seen the mood and people’s response, I was convinced that the people will back the NDA...,” said JD(U) general secretary and Bihar minister Sanjay Jha, who was campaigning in Madhubani and Darbhanga.

He said people trusted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Nitish Kumar for all the changes that they brought to Mithilanchal.

“Mithilanchal has got All India Institute of Medical Sciences, an airport at Darbhanga, automated barrage at Jainagar and the Bagmati flood management proposal. All these big-ticket projects will transform Mithilanchal. Besides, there is an emphasis on tapping the potential of makhana to make it a revenue earner. The social combination also favoured the NDA and the women came out in large numbers to negate the false narrative that the opposition tried to build,” said Jha.

In 2015, the Grand Alliance, then comprising JD(U), RJD, and the Congress, swept the region, bagging 25 out of the 30 assembly seats in Darbhanga, Samastipur, and Madhubani. The BJP then got just three seats.